U.S. faces long fight to capture NSA spy as whistleblower quits Hong Kong hotel in attempt to seek asylum

Edward Snowden: U.S. faces long fight to capture NSA spy

The United States is braced for a drawn-out effort to capture the rogue spy who dramatically exposed its domestic surveillance apparatus, as President Barack Obama was urged to prosecute him for treason.

Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old intelligence contractor, was seeking asylum after apparently leaving a hotel in Hong Kong, where he leaked top secret documents on the National Security Agency (NSA) to the media.

“The only thing I can do is sit here and hope the Hong Kong government does not deport me,” Mr. Snowden told The Guardian, while suggesting that he could alternatively seek protection in Iceland.

Senior congressmen accused Mr. Snowden of inflicting a historic blow to U.S. intelligence and providing assistance to al-Qaeda, by disclosing the government’s telephone and online spying methods. Some former intelligence officials even accused him of being a Chinese agent.

“The United States government must prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law and begin extradition proceedings at the earliest date,” said Peter King, a Republican congressman for New York and chairman of the House homeland security committee.

John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, accused Mr Snowden of “the worst form of treason” and joined mounting calls to see him prosecuted under the Espionage Act of 1917.

“This man is a liar,” said Mr. Bolton. “He took an oath to keep the secrets that were shared with him so he could do his job. He said he would not disclose them, and he lied.”

The Department of Justice is believed to have opened an investigation. FBI officials were seen entering the home in Pennsylvania, of Lonnie Snowden, the leaker’s father.

Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, declined to discuss “this individual or this investigation.”

Mr. Snowden’s disclosures also raised questions about the corporate outsourcing of U.S. intelligence operations over the past decade. More than half the 25,000 staff of Booz Allen, his employer, hold government security clearances.

Bob Baer, a former CIA case officer, said: “The process has just been a great wealth transfer to the private sector. And I hate the systems they’ve built because they never caught a terrorist.”

The whistleblower, who worked at Booz Allen’s Hawaii office, claimed that Hong Kong had a “spirited commitment to free speech and the right of political dissent,” despite continuing crackdowns in mainland China.

Experts said that he had placed himself under threat of ultimately being returned to the U.S. by choosing to station himself in a territory that has a 17-year-old extradition treaty with Washington.

However, he could benefit greatly from Hong Kong’s asylum system having been in limbo since a landmark court ruling was made there in March this year.

Its court of final appeal ruled that the Hong Kong government, which previously depended on rulings by the United Nations refugee authorities, must establish its own asylum screening process.

Because no system has yet been implemented, an application from Mr. Snowden would face lengthy delays, buying him time to consider his next move while probably blocking any attempt to deport him.

The Chinese government, which has controlled Hong Kong since its return from Britain, appears entitled to veto any deportation that would impact its “defence, foreign affairs or essential public interest”.

Mr. Baer said some U.S. intelligence officials suspected Chinese involvement in Mr Snowden’s leaks and feared that Beijing would ultimately thwart U.S. attempts to capture him.

“They are seriously looking at this as a potential Chinese covert action,” Mr Baer told The Daily Telegraph. “They have to. And if it was, it was an act of pure brilliance. We will never get him back now.”

Commentators have pointed out that his disclosures coincided with the visit to the U.S. of Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, who was chided by Mr. Obama for China’s cyber-attacks in the U.S.

Yet Mr. Snowden attempted to have his documents published in The Washington Post weeks earlier, according to that newspaper, which lost contact with him after refusing to rush to publication.

Other analysts doubted that China would risk further souring relations with Washington by defying an attempt to extradite Mr. Snowden. “They’re not going to put at risk their relationship with the U.S. over Mr. Snowden, and very few people have found that they have the clout to persuade another country to go out of their way for them,” Robert Anello, a New York extradition lawyer, said.

Chinese authorities did not comment.

A member of Iceland’s parliament pledged to help Mr Snowden to secure protection provided he made it there in order to apply. Birgitta Jonsdottir, who previously assisted WikiLeaks with its disclosures of U.S. secrets, said that she and the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative were already preparing assistance.

“We feel it is our duty to offer to assist and advise Mr. Snowden to the greatest of our ability,” she said in a statement.